The whole question of work life balance is something that many of us struggle with. Nigel Marsh had enough of the imbalance of corporate life so he took a year off and during that time studied the whole concept of work life balance. In this 10 minute TED talk he shares his observations.

Marsh is dry, humorous and also quite brutal in explaining his four main observations that we have to:

1. be honest and accept the reality that some jobs are incompatible with an ideal work life balance
2. face the truth that it is up to us as individuals to take responsibility for the life we lead
3. be careful about the timeframe we use to judge work life balance
4. approach balance in a balanced way

At the end he tells a story of some time he spent with his son to illustrate that it does not take great upheaval to achieve a better balance, but in fact it can be achieved with small investments.

I hope you find time to look at this and ponder your balance and the investments you can make. This blog How balanced is your life? gives you a quick and easy exercise to help you with your reflection.